RWBY: Saints of Remnant, a Reimainged RWBY-AU
by Retro Ace
Summary: An unofficial reboot of RWBY following V3. Salem and her cult has claimed Vale and Ozpin has been captured, and team RNJR ventures out to seek justice and answers. But little do they know that a long-awaited prophecy is about to be fulfilled that will change Remnant forever. M for language, violence, and sensitive themes. RoseGarden, Black Sun, Arctic Water, Renora, Arkos and so on
1. Prologue: Origin of The World

**Note: This is an alternate take on the Story of RWBY following V3 with a heavily altered mythology, canon divergence, and retconed material, I have no ill will towards the canon source but I am rewriting the story in a way that resonates with me and those like me, if you would like to join me through this AU you are more than welcome to do so.**

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 **RWBY: Saints of Remnant**

 **Prologue: Creatio Universi, The Birth of The Universe**

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Long ago, before the Era of Peace, before the Great War, before there was Remnant before there was the Universe, there was nothing but the emptiness. The only thing that had existed was a great being, **God** , who on Remnant is called **The Author, The Allfather.** He had lived alone in the timeless void with no company. Then he created his living tools, his angels, **The Editors, Drawers, Animators, and Musicians** who did his will and existed before any other form living and non-living was created.

He then wrote in his great book, **The Evertale,** A book whose cover was adorned with cobalt, gold, jade, and marble, its pages made of snow, fire, thunder, and pollen, writing in inks colored silver, ruby, citrine, and emerald, and a seal marked with a face of a sundial. He had written his story in it, and he saw it was good. He then summoned his angels who waited for their master's command

" _Through you, I will give this story image, movement, and sound. Every character, every setting, every theme, and every movement, they will worship me as you do and they will love one another as you love me and each other. As the ages pass they will build great civilizations, four mighty kingdoms that will praise me, honor you and my disciples to come, and they will even reach beyond the sphere I grow them from, to beyond even the stars._ _"_ The Author spoke.

He raised his book and from it came many manuscripts, character descriptions, and musical score which were given to angels of each respective rank. They read the manuscripts, and the musical scores, and character descriptions and they adored them and began to work. The Editors organized the manuscripts, the drawers made concept art, the animators prepared sequences of moving frames, the musicians composed and rehearsed as they prepared to help bring forth Creation.

However, one angel, an Editor, the most powerful of them all grew too prideful, **Grimmel The Black.** For he saw what his master had created and seen it as flawed.

" _Too kind and too soft, the creations he has given unto us lack conflict! I shall rectify this and show the error of the Author_ _'_ _s ways!_ _"_ He boasted

Creating his own ink from his own blood, pages from his own flesh, and a cover from his own bones, he drew his own characters, his own stories, and his own music. This would not be such an offense if his creation was not born from pride and spite. But alas, it was.

When they all came together with The Author, they surrounded the Evertale and offered up their manuscripts, musical performances, drawings, and animations. When they harmonized with The Evertale, a great burst of many colors and beautiful music filled the emptiness. Their own home became **Valhalla** filled with halls of books of characters whose stories are yet to be written and worlds yet to be created, music halls whose themes were yet to be produced, and a great hall for where those characters who died my continue their existence in paradise. What bellow it became the cosmos, born from this wonderful adaption of The Author's story. Among this vast plain of existence, the tiniest sphere among it had begun blooming with life. This Sphere was called **Asgard.**

Beasts and plants had filled the land, bodies of water filled its great cavities and walking among it, where two races were made in the Author's likeness.

" _Behold, The Humans, and The Faunus, two creatures made in my own image, they shall grow and multiply with each other and themselves, they shall build, rule, and prosper, and they shall be the characters in my stories to come_ _"_ The Author spoke once more.

But among these creatures roamed creatures, not of his making. Creatures whose bodies were pitch-black, their bones dead-pale, and cracks red and eyes filled with envy and scorn. They arose from a foul reservoir of ink black as death, an ink that did not belong to the Author. Even worse, the Author sensed that the essence could corrupt his precious creations. He knew this was the doing of one of his creations, Grimmel.

" _Grimmel, why have you done this? Why did you create without my consent? Can you not see the consequences of your actions?_ _"_ The Author asked

" _I did not need your permission, you gave unto us your story to do as we pleased and I found great errors that promoted stagnancy and sloth! Your creatures need conflict to progress! For that, I created creatures_ _of my own likeness! Behold the Grimm, my children!_ _"_ Grimmel boasted

The Author did not approve of his servant's arrogance, but yet he did not want to squander his creative spirit, for that he let him off with a warning

" _I shall not interfere with your creations, nor will I allow them to commit death and harm unto my own. Do not interfere with my work again, Grimmel._ _"_ The Author spoke firmly

Grimmel appears to swear not to and promised not to intervene any further…

But this was a lie, one of many which he would later use to deceive and manipulate his master's creations, and corrupt them into his own…

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And so starts the prologue, this was inspired by Tolkien's works, notably **The Silmarilion.** I check up on Canon RWBY here and there and while others like it I do not like how the Gods of the Canon-Verse are these apathetic beings, nor can I resonate the type of drama they are going for. It's just not my taste. Do not worry, I do intend for loss and drama in this fan-made reboot. Thanks for reading, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 1:Something Wicked

**NOTE: As my story continues, I'll let you PM me if you can spot the allusions of mythology, folk tales, fairy tales, and even some of the religious allusions that continue through the story. I prefer PM just to prevent potential spoilers to my fic! Anyway, let us continue.**

 **RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth and the late Monty Oum**

 **RWBY: Saints of Remnant**

 **Chapter 1: Something Wicked…**

A dragon-shaped continent, a dark and dreary land colored with sickly purple and black. It's plant life, ugly and yet somehow beautiful as if they were mockeries of plant life. The sky was dull in purple only baring a black sun amongst venomously indigo clouds and dark crystals stuck out of the ground, crystals that felt like bone. Grimm of various kinds scampered, flew, and prowled about the realm, either fighting amongst each other for food or venturing out with an appetite for mortal flesh of human, faunus, and beast. West of this unholy and godforsaken place laid a castle. A grand castle of dark gothic design with a spindly tower in the center reaching high to the foul sky to scrape it. It appeared to be very old as if had seen ages of mortals come and go, and on its banners and front gate was a mark of an eerie circle with a demonic eye at the center. This land was called **Gehenna,** and the castle was known as **Babel.**

The inside of the castle was just as dualistic as the land that it was built upon. Gothic stone architecture had made the halls and the walls were lit with torches of violet flame. Many paned glass windows had filled the halls with figures clad in clothes and armor of Grimm aesthetic and etched in the runes of a dead language that no mortal tongue has spoken in centuries, or at least the majority of the world. Following the bloody red and black carpeting lead up to the tower. At the top of this tower laid a horseshoe-shaped table where 4 figures sat in conference while the fifth on an elevated platform sat upon a throne that was dark in design, adorned with the black crystals from outside with spikes with purple cushions and armrests and upon the top of the throne did the mark of the dark eye did bare.

Among the four was the attractive woman, young, with long black hair and amber eyes in a red dress with gold trimmings while a diamond pin laced with feathers held the stitches of her skirt together at her right thigh. It was the girl who was responsible for the attack on Vale, the usurper of the Fall Maiden powers, Cinder Fall. She sat contemplating the even upon the tower after what she did to the so-called "Invincible Girl" Pyrrha Nikos. The little girl in the red hood who in hysteria wailed tears of pure silver that lit up the tower and nearly claimed her life, what was that? She intended to ask her teacher this question after the meeting alone, shot she did not want to speak in front of her cohorts whom she was not on friendly terms with.

One man was somewhat lanky, dressed in white pants and vest with purple bandages and brown vambraces around his arms, black combat boots, a bare chest marked with scars, a brown lumpy belt around his waist, a ponytail styled in a scorpions tail and eyes gold, and with an expression of glee like that a deranged child. His name was **Tyrian Callows** and he was the leader of a barbarian pack that had pillaged and decimated villages of the south and east, **The Rabid Apes.**

Another man was tanned, large, muscular and dressed in brown steel-toed hunting boots, black pants, and undershirt, and a short-sleeved hunting coat in two shades of green, his hair was brown and bore a beard and eyes green as well. His face was rather calm and collected, arms crossed. A former Huntsman by the name of **Hazel Rainart** who served as an assassin of sorts with his guild **The Black Claw Clan**.

lastly was a man somewhat tanned himself. He was dressed in grayish blue trousers and overcoat that had yellow trimmings, he wore a yellow button up shirt, purple button-up vest with yellow buttons, purple fingerless gloves, a black tie, and cordovan shoes. His combed-back hair was black, greying at the sides, and had a thick somewhat jagged mustache. He had eyes that were a brighter green and his expression was somewhat hard to tell due to his facial hair hiding his mouth underneath it. He tapped his fingers in boredom as they conversed. This was **Dr. Arthur Watts** who was the head of a massive military tech corporation known as **Gigawatts Robotics** which had made mass partnerships with many companies in Atlas in his ever-growing conglomerate, which he then manipulated their CEOs to his own ends as his "puppets" as he would call them.

And the one upon the throne was a woman who was fairly old. Skin pale and white as Grimm bones, black cracks trailing up from her cheeks to her eyes that were black as Grimm skin, eyeballs just as black with red pupils that burned like the fires of Hell. Her hair a dull grey and in a style that was abnormal and her nails long and black. Her dress was black and from behind it a black cape which on behind had the same unholy mark Castle Babel did bare. **The** **Witch-Priestess** **of** **The Brotherhood Grimm, Salem Hades.**

"And so Vale has fallen, and with its communication to the other academies, Cinder my child you have done marvelously…" Salem spoke in a soft voice

Cinder managed to give a small smile as she appreciated her teacher's compliment, yet she still couldn't phase the chronic thoughts about that girl with the little red hood. Salem took notice too but she didn't want to embarrass her ward, no, she had worked too hard to build her up from what she found the child as. Humiliating her would do no good, she would talk to the girl in private and without prying eyes, for she knew these tools of hers already teased and taunted Cinder due to being the youngest and the "weakest" among them.

"Though the Kingdoms have a backup for communications with themselves which is such a pity…" Watts spoke indifferently "That virus I designed should have taken the backups out, but the program was on a time limit, next time when I target Atlas I'll have the updated version to do twice the job." He reached for his scroll and shuffled through it, checking up on his research.

"Foolish girl, silly girl, thinking she could challenge us only to be whisked away by destiny!" Tyrian spoke in glee as rubbed his hands together.

"Please don't start, Tyrian. We've had a long day and nobody is in the mood for your banter" Hazel sighed

"Oh? And what was the bear doing while some of us were out there doing the work of our prophetess? You haven't been hunting any potential angels for a while, no you merely go about your business with your guild catching smaller fish!" Tyrian snarked back

"Because there is none left, I had patrolled with my guild and there hasn't been anyone who has shown any signs of being a candidate. The Brawnwen Tribe of Mistrial is dead, the other tribes of the North, South, and West are dead, all traces of the ancient hunter tribes are gone and there is no sign of the powers passing on to anyone else. If they did, Salem would have informed me." Hazel retorted nonchalantly

Those last words made Cinder worry…He may have not been completely right about that, but she kept her face straight in hopes of raising little suspicion as possible. Salem gestured to the two bickering men.

"Now Tyrian there is no need to quarrel, Hazel, like Cinder, has done more for us in Mistrial while you all were preparing operations in the other two corners of the world. He had earned his rest." Salem touted

Tyrian looked to Salem like a jealous child, he did not want to back sass his prophetess, regardless of how much he hated someone other than him getting praise from her. He huffed and folded his arms

"…Yes, High-Priestess…" Tyrian begrudgingly mumbled

A knocking came at the door and everyone turned their attention to it. It was either one of the Rabid Apes or the Black Claw Clan. Gigawatts Robotics has no record of where Dr. Watts goes on his "personal business trips" but nobody who wanted to keep their job wouldn't question him about it.

"Come in…" Salem spoke in her soft and yet eerie voice

Two teenagers stepped into the room, one dressed in black, grey, and silver with gunmetal-colored hair and grey eyes, and the other a girl dressed in white and brown with dark skin, green bob-cut hair and red eyes, it was Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai. Two of Cinder's subordinates who survived the attack on Beacon. Emerald had a rather uneasy look on her face while Mercury had seemed a bit creeped out with the castle and the strange co-workers of Cinder…this was not what he had in mind when he signed up for this…but its to make the life better and get back at the world for what it did to him and Emerald right? So what's the big deal? Cinder's boss just likes old spooky stuff is all…

"Cinder's pet mice…" Tyrian mumbled

Mercury gave a brief glare to the unstable warrior before looking back to Cinder, he and Emerald then turned their attention to Salem and both tried to ask her something that both seemed hesitant to ask…there was something about this old lady that REALLY gave them the chills, there was a sudden weight of dread that fell upon their hearts which began to beat at a slightly higher pace

"What ails you? You both seem rather distressed…" Salem asked in a very kindly tone "There's no need to be afraid of me, I'm not unfamiliar with the presence of children…"

Emerald finally spoke up "We…we want to know what you plan on doing in Mistral…we want to know what you plan on doing to make the world better.."

Salem gave a gentle smile, almost like that of a doting mother, and replied "We cripple Haven significantly, buying us more time to prepare for the cleansing of the world of its filthy image…" Salem spoke softly.

Both Emerald and Mercury didn't understand what she meant by "cleansing of the world of its filthy image." at the same time Tyrian seemed to be eyeing Emerald, notably his eyes seemed to be moving up and down gazing at her figure, when Emerald took notice he simply averted his eyes away, his smirk widening a few inches. Emerald felt very uncomfortable and Mercury saw the man's eyes and stepped closer her to make sure the freak didn't try anything.

"Oh speaking of which, my project needs the last 3 subjects…is anyone up to fetch them for me? I've already done enough work on the one we have" Watts had chimed in looking to his fellow teammates in hopes to gain any support, which they did nodding in agreement.

"I'll take the survivor of one of the Colossal Ones, I know how to break souls as his" Hazel vouched.

"I'll take the one of joy and cheer…she looks like a lot of fun to play with…" Tyrian snickered

"Leave the leader to me…I'll wait for him in Haven Academy I think it's only appropriate that I take him" Cinder replied with a smirk

"What project?" Mercury asked

"None of your business boy. This is a matter for grown-ups, not children…" Watts dismissed him "And don't even think about going to the basement, that place is off limits to the likes of you"

"Why the fuck not? You got a stash of booze, crack, or something else down there?" Mercury snarked, not liking being called a child

"Excuse me, young man, I _do not_ tolerate profanity in my presence. Learn to control your language when speaking in this room." Salem spoke sternly

"How about I speak with them alone High-Priestess? I think they'd be more comfortable with that." Cinder asked standing up. Salem nodded and motioned her to take her to leave.

Cinder exited with the pair and the doors slammed shut which then the three men sighed with relief as if an annoyance had left the room.

Tyrian then gave an audible groan "Why must we spoil this child any further!? She's too young and weak to wield the power of a saint! So smug, so weak, so arrogant!" Tyrian complained

"I would have to agree with Mr. Callows, that brat has become even more conceited with her power than she left, and it's only a matter of time before the powers of the Fall Maiden start rejecting her and ultimately leave to find their true next mistress. Which we should be wary of by the way! You should warn her High-Priestess, she is your godchild after all!" Watts concurred, which he rarely did with Tyrian due to him being insufferable with his riddle-speak.

"You both are terrible with children in general." Hazel bluntly replied which earned in a glare from both the doctor and the barbarian

"She is a young lady that needs to grow and learn, the concern will be given to her when the rejection begins. She is destined for great things and I do ask that you all keep your patience with her. Her follies and her mistakes will make her stronger alone." Salem replied calmly and collectively.

Outside, Cinder was conversing with her two agents who both seem very unsettled by the strange "boss and co-workers" Cinder had been cooperating with. All the while Cinder didn't like how Mercury started to mouth off to team WTCH in front of Salem, it wasn't wise to cause drama in the witch-priestess' presence.

"Cinder…what the Hell did you rope us into? I mean I'm all for giving the world the finger and making it better for us but…look all this!" Mercury pointing out to the eldritch oddity of the castle "This is…this is giving me bad vibes, and I'm a guy who killed his dad before he could kill me first!" Mercury finished

"Look I understand the uncanniness of The Brotherhood Grimm but I assure you once this is all over, your lives and the world itself will be much better than the way they were before. This is all for the greater good, didn't I promise that you would never be hungry again and nobody would abuse you anymore?" Cinder tried to quell them

"But what we did in Beacon, we never killed that many people before! Also, what does that lady mean by 'cleansing the world'? And what's this 'project' that guy with the mustache was talking about and what did he mean by 'subjects'? There's a lot of things your not telling us Cinder and well I…I don't like it!" Emerald replied, "How do you expect to change the world for the better if all we do is kill everybody!?"

Cinder shook her head, an expression of slight frustration "Emerald. You have to understand-" Cinder tried to explain before Mercury cut her off, facing Emerald with a rather annoyed look on his face

"What did you think was gonna happen Em? We're preparing for a _fucking war_ , people are gonna die! Besides, you know as well as I do that every single one of those complacent braindead masses in Vale **deserved it!** The whole world moves forward while leaving people like us behind as either sacrifice to their 'Big Picture' or they just flat out don't give a shit. Either way, they leave us to rot in the dust! This was payback for what society's done to us Emerald, what it did to you and me!" The assassin spoke indignantly

"The world didn't cut off your legs and jammed those gadgets onto your stumps Merc!" Emerald shouted

"Don't you go there Em!" Mercury shouted back

 **"STOP IT!"** Cinder finally shouted, very frustrated with the pair's bickering "I did not bring you both to the Brotherhood just for you two to fight about what's right and wrong. This is how we are going to fix the world, these are the measures we have to take and like it or not that's the way it is! End of discussion! Now get your things ready, Tyrian, Hazel and I are getting ready for Mistral. I suggest that you two do the same!" Cinder finished before walking down the hall.

Mercury just sighed and went to his room to get ready while Emerald did the same. While they both had different views on the whole conflict, both were certain about one thing. This "Brotherhood Grimm" was something they did _not_ sign up for…


	3. Chapter 3: This way we come

**RWBY: Saints of Remnant**

 **Chapter 2: This way we come...**

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" _SOMEBODY! HELP ME! PLEASE ANYBODY! AUTHOR PLEASE!"_

A glowing silhouette of a girl in fractured gladiator armor, chained up and struggling as she cried and sobbed. Among shadows a dark demonic eye above her opened gazed down at her and spoke in a vile and unholy voice

 _"No one can help you girl, not even your senile and impotent Author…this was your destiny. You are bound by death and bound to me, soon you will become the very thing you sought to destroy!"_

Which then a claw dripping with black ink descended upon the girl before it closed around her entirely

"… _Jaune…"_

" **PYRRHA!"**

Jaune woke up in his tent panting, his eyes wet with tears and body damp with sweat. He looked around and saw he was in his tent. He was having his nightmares again, he wiped his eyes. He still wasn't over the guilt, the guilt of not acknowledging Pyrrha's feelings before it was too late, guilt of shutting her out with his mere stupidity, and guilt of not going up to the tower with Ruby when he should have. A voice came crying out in worry, a voice of a certain silver-eyed girl.

"Jaune! Jaune! Are you okay? Ren and Nora heard screaming coming from your tent!" Ruby's voice called before entering the tent herself

Jaune's breath descended to a normal pace and he shook his head "I'm sorry I…I just had another nightmare is all…" Jaune dismissed "It was about her again…Pyrrha…it felt so real…" he finished

A pang of guilt had came over Ruby Rose as well, she was so close to saving her friend, and she failed. She watched one of her friends get murdered right in front of her and her corpse reduced to dust as her tiara was left which Jaune had kept as a keepsake with permission. But now was not the time to wallow in grief, they had to keep moving forward and search for answers of what happened in Vale, and her uncle told her Mistral was the place to go. That's where the terrorist Cinder Fall had decreed where she came from and maybe that would answer why she attacked Vale, or at least they could know who she was.

"Jaune…it's all in your head…she's with the Author now and we need to move on, it's what she would want." Ruby spoke in a comforting tone

"I know that but…but I cant help…can't help but think…" Jaune still insisted

"Jaune…she's not suffering…it's your guilt talking…If we gave up every time we lost, we would never be able to move forward." Ruby shushed him gently

"…You're right I'm sorry…" Jaune sniffed as he exited the tent

Ruby helped him up and they got his things together before they exited the tent. Outside Jaune's two other teammates, Ren and Nora, had stood waiting. Both of them having very concerned looks on their faces. This was 40th time Jaune had this kind of nightmare in the past 6 months. Jaune kept trying to have a cheery attitude and move on from what happened, but he kept having those nightmares and he kept insisting it was some kind of sign to him.

"Jaune…are you gonna be okay?" Ren inquired "We could talk about this if you would want."

"No Ren its fine…I've had this talk with all of you already, I'm gonna keep insisting it's real, you're gonna have to slap some sense into me, and the next morning its gonna start all over gain. Maybe if I just let it run it's course without engaging with it it will eventually die out." Jaune tried to muster an assuring smile, and he somewhat succeeded while everyone looked at each other until Nora broke the silence

"Well, Onwards to Mistrial! Onward to victory!" Nora spoke cheerful while trying to lighten the mood as she rushed to pack up the tents.

* * *

Back in Castle Babel in a cold dark dungeon, a man dressed in tattered green clothes with fractured black pince-nez glasses had a chained cuff around his ankle and had been kneeling in front of his board of a bed. It was the headmaster of Beacon Academy Professor Ozpin Pines. He was praying a distressed child. His prayers had been driven by guilt and fear, for what happened to one of his students, his failure as teacher, his failure as a headmaster, and his failure of being something much more than just any of those things. He was praying to the one who created the universe and the one he swore to serve since he took up the cause when he was very young. The Author Allfather

"Author…" Ozpin quietly prayed "Lord...please...please hear your prophet's prayer...I failed again...I let a child die...I can't do this on my own anymore...please Author...speak to me...please! Nothing I have done has deterred the rising darkness, Vale has been claimed by the enemy, I need your hand to guide me!"

Nothing but the sound of drops of water coming from the ceiling of his cell above had echoed throughout the halls. Then the sounds of footsteps began to increase in volume. Salem came through the halls, her dress covering her feet which made it appear as if she was slowly floating forward like a ghost. She approached the cell and looked down at the old man who then turned back to her, resentment and bitterness filling his eyes, while Salem's own face bore only indifference.

"Praying to The Author again Ozpin?" She cocked an eyebrow tilting her head slightly "You still remain a prophet to that celestial tyrant despite what he allowed to befall onto you and Vale? You really haven't changed since the last time I saw you in person."

Ozpin stood up and dashed right towards the bars which he viciously grabbed and got into her face as much as he could, only the bars of his cell getting in the way. His calm and professional demeanor had seemed to vanish. The way he stared at her seem to be that of familiarity and betrayal. It's as if she had done something horrible to him, something that hit him close to home.

"And _you_ have changed for the absolute _worst,_ _Salem._ " His voice hissed with silent seething fury. "Whats the point of keeping me alive? Why didn't you have your apprentice kill me?!" His voice raising slightly

She gave a smug grin "You're abilities as the Time Wizard allow you to see into glimpses into the future and past could give us clues to the whereabouts of powers of the patron saints that escaped my grasp…"

"Excuse me?" Ozpin inquired

"Over the years when we hunted down the patron saints, we managed to capture a good amount of their powers. The Spring Maiden, The Marble Knight, The Jade Knight, and The Summer Maiden. But there were a few that whisked themselves away before we could contain them. The Cobalt Knight, The Gold Knight, The Winter Maiden, and the Prime Hunters…which is why I need you…I need to see who are to be the new hosts" Salem cupped Ozpin's chin almost in a flirtatious way before he swatted it away.

"You actually think I'm going to betray my role and turn my back on the Author so you can corrupt the world?" Ozpin snarled

"Willingly? No, of course not. But I have ways of making others revealing they're secrets and I know that you will tell me who these candidates are, even if that information is in bits and pieces…" Salem snidely spoke.

But then that apathy changed, smile becoming almost perky like an old friend and her expression tender, and her voice becoming almost kind.

"Also, how is your sister Aurelia doing?" She cheerfully asked "It's been so long since I've last saw her! Last time I did she was devastated with what happened to Morando."

Ozpin eyes dilated "Don't you dare Salem…" His voice hard and blunt

Salem as if putting on an act gave a mock gasped and acted concerned "Oh dear, I also forgot about your nephew Oscar! Is he doing alright? The difficulty Aurelia must have had rearing a child and running a farm without a husband, and how hard it must have been for little Oscar to grow up without a father…"

"Stop it…" Ozpin's voice becoming more sorrowful and bitter

"Reminds me of that time after, when I met that nice woman back in the Black Woods in Atlas…What was her name again? Silver Eyes, white hood, short hair that was black but had a little tint of red. She was a spouse and a parent herself wasn't she? What was her name? _…Summer Rose?_ " Salem tapped her chin while maintaining that charade.

Ozpin snapped and shot his arms out between the bars, reaching for Salem's neck. Salem slid back and began to laugh as the old man's hands frantically reached in his desire to strangle the witch that stood before him. His breath short with rage and anguish as he seemed to be overwhelmed by horrible memories. Salem just sighed and shook her head as Ozpin then slumped to his knees as he clung to the bars muttering curses at the she-devil.

Salem's smile then changed to a sinister smirk "I'm going to wash this world clean. The Author's image will be bleached from the face of the earth. Soon there will be neither humans nor faunus…there will be only one empire of one people…the children of Grimmel, the Grimmborne…and you're going to watch it all happen…" she then left, gently opening the door, and closing it from behind which echoed a thud. Which then the faint echos of the headmaster's sniffles filled the room.

* * *

The City of Haven was a beautiful one, despite its horrific record of crime and human and Faunus trafficking. The waterfalls the bridges were built over, the eastern architecture that reached the skies, and the blossom trees that grew upon the rocky mountainside were indeed gorgeous to look at. Despite the negligent and cowardly councils that ran the kingdom, the tiny bit of goodness that remained in Mistrial had endured and blossomed through. But then again, what good is such beauty if it was being merely used as a lure by crime lords and political hacks who swindled, robbed, and ruined the lives of many? Qrow had taken a rest at a tavern near by the countryside, carrying Ozpin's cane, Nihogg. He had to bring it somewhere who may want it.

A farm resided in the outskirts of Mistral was owned by someone close to the missing professor who could keep the weapon, Ozpin's twin sister Aurelia Pines. She had been running the place ever since her husband died as well as home-schooling her son. The price of education around Mistral was too high and while she made enough money from the farmer's market to make a decent living, it wasn't enough to pay for her son's education as a huntsman. Fortunately being one of Beacon's most prodigal students of her generation she kept the boy well educated in the academic, agricultural, and the spiritual and to fight in case any Grimm came for the livestock of the farm. Qrow and the rest of his team in their youth were good friends of her's and their teams were two of the top four teams of their class in their day after all, and Ozpin would receive letter's from his nephew which he would write back. Yet whenever Qrow asked Ozpin why didn't just go visit his family, Ozpin simply replied with a blunt "None of your business Qrow." Well, now it was his business.

After he left the tavern he walked a good distance before coming to brown large barn that had at least two-hundred-and-thirty-one acres of land.

"What the hell am I gonna tell her? 'Hey Aurelia, about your brother, yeah we have no idea where he is but can ya hang on to his cane for us while me and the rest of the big wigs scratch our heads with our thumbs up our asses? Yeah, thanks." Qrow mumbled to himself as he approached the farm.

On the farm tending to the cows was a boy who seemed to be around Ruby's age, roughly fifteen or sixteen, with tanned skin and black hair. His eyes were green with a little rim of yellow in the middle of his pupils. His face was dotted with freckles from his cheeks reaching from one cheek, across the bridge of his nose, and to another. He seemed to have some kind of bandage around his neck, he wore a faded white farmer's shirt with orange gloves, one of them having some kind of dark green binding around them. He had orange farmer's pants with orange suspenders and brown farmer's boots. This was the son of Aurelia and the nephew of Ozpin, **Oscar Pines.** He noticed one of the cows looking left and turned to see Qrow waving to him.

"Um, can I help you mister?" Oscar asked

"Yeah, my name is Qrow Brawnwen, I work for a man named Ozpin. I'm looking for his sister Aurelia Pines, is she home by any chance?" Qrow responded

"Ozpin…you mean my uncle?" Oscar asked, his face beginning to show worry "I heard about the attack is…is…is he okay?"

What should he say?

"He's…he's been taken and we don't know where he could be…" he took out Nidhogg "This is all we could find of him…could I speak with your mom?"

Oscar's eyes dilated with anxiousness. Qrow began to feel guilt of brining bad news to this kid, the damage Cinder had done didn't just affect the state of all the academies, but the state of personal lives as well. Oscar nodded and lead Qrow to the farmhouse.

"Mom, there's somebody here named Qrow Brawnen, he says he works for Uncle Ozpin!" He called

After a few seconds the sound of footsteps were heard and opening the door was a woman around Ozpin's age. Her hair was black and styled in a ponytail, creamy skin, and had eyes of green with freckles akin to Oscar's. She was dressed in an orange gingham farm dress with some rather rough looking farmer's boots. This was Ozpin's sister **Aurelia** **Pines**. She heard of the assault on Vale and had concluded this was not good news.

"Qrow…My brother…is he?" Aurelia asked with a distressed voice

"Dead? No. We believe your brother has been most likely kidnapped, the only thing the terrorist had left behind was this." Qrow spoke presenting the cane to her.

"Nidhogg…" Aurelia gave a small gasp as she took it "Oscar…could you get us some tea? I think Mr. Brawnen will be with us for a bit." She asked her son

"Y-yeah mom. Give me fifteen minutes." Oscar replied as he wen't to the kitchen

As he left Aurelia looked back to Qrow

"It's her isn't it? She's behind the attack on Vale…" Aurelia spoke as if she was familiar with the culprit

"Yeah…Salem Hades…" Qrow replied

* * *

Yang Xiao Long looked through the window of her logged cabin, thinking about her little sister out there, thinking about Blake who ran out on her. Blake, who was like another sister to her, had ran off. She wanted to go after them, she wanted to confront her about what she did, and she wanted answers. But her will had burned out like a match. Her semblance seemed to have burned out along with her arm taken by the mysterious bull Faunus who had attacked Blake, and whom she assumed was Adam. She continued to resent herself for not having the will to get up and go, but at the same time thought, with the state she was in, what could she do?

"Yang?" Her father's voice spoke behind the door as he gently knocked on the door.

"It's open" Yang responded

Stepping in was the aged man with faded blonde hair. His gentle blue eyes looking down at his daughter. He could not help but feel sorrow for the incident at Vale, and a smoldering rage towards the bastard who severed his daughter's arm. But right now the best thing to do was to try to get Yang out of this pit she had fell into.

"Yang we need to talk." Taiyang spoke with a voice of concern "I know you're still hurting but I see the way you look out that window. You want to go after her don't you? You want to go get Ruby…" Taiyang speaking looking into his daughters eyes

"I want to but…but I…" Yang stared downwards "I can't! I can't start my semblance, I barely have the will to eat or sleep, and just look at me dad! That masked son of a bitch had taken my arm, how am I going to protect Ruby if I couldn't even protect my…teammate…" Her voice more sorrowful at those last words.

Taiyang now felt even more horrible. Her self-loathing and despair was all too familiar to him. He remembered when his first wife Raven was when her village was decimated by that mysterious guild of warriors, she was so broken that not even her brother Qrow could shake her out of her depression, that it took Tai himself to be the anchor for her to take hold of. She kept insisting that it was her fault her father was killed and village was slaughtered, that she should have been stronger. Which made him wonder at times if that was one of the reasons she disappeared after Yang was born. One thing was for certain though, he had no intention to have his daughter rot in the same rut.

"Yang, I've seen how you've fight, I've seen you grow, you are much stronger than you think" Taiyang spoke softly "And the Yang I know would not let something like this stop her."

He then put a packed box into her lap, on it was marked the symbol of the Atlasian military. Yang's eyebrows raised as the coolness of the package gave a good impression of where it was from along with the mark. Taiyang then opened it to reveal an artificial arm colored in gold and orange and around the wrist had a notch that looked like it was meant to be fitted with Ember Celica. To top it all off, the back of the hand was branded with her emblem. Yang's mouth slightly opened, Taiyang noticed the tiny spark in her eyes, he knew this could disrupt her mental loop of negativity and smiled.

"Dad where did you get this?" Yang spoke taking the arm out and looked at it at every different angle.

"General Ironwood had sen't in the mail, he was grateful for your volunteering to defend Vale and got your information from the tournament, he called me and asked about you. He made an offer and I said yes, he told me it would take a few months but he kept his word. I even told him about your favorite colors and made this for you." The old dragon replied

After inspecting it, the gold-haired girl then slowly moved brought the open socket of the prosthetic to the stump of her arm, she pushed it in firmly which then hit a button on the wrist of the arm which then a "ping" could be heart and clear lines along the arm began to fill up with the glow of her aura which then her arm began to feel tingly. It was if her arm was never severed but rather it was asleep and now she was waking it up. Yang shuttered a bit as the feeling was somewhat overwhelming, but then she began to feel the phantom limb become solid, she began flopping her arm around, trying to get her body to adjust to augmented limb.

"The general said it allows a person's aura to flow through it like how blood flows through the body, it's only going to get better if you get up and start using it." Taiyang finished standing up. "So now you got a reason to get out of bed." He then left.

Yang then after swinging her lazy arm around finally began to feel strong enough to raise it, she looked at her new hand of metal and then made it into a fist. She then closed her eyes, and began to focus. She began to try and think about Ruby, her little sister who was still out there and needed help, Weiss, the small heiress who was in Atlas who probably was dealing with her father, and lastly Blake, the girl who ran from Beacon when the mysterious White Fang Lieutenant appeared and attacked her.

Could she find her semblance again?

She then began to feel something, the first sensation from her new arm. Warmth. She began to feel heat rising from palm and knuckles of her hand and her eyes opened and began to fade to a more reddish-lavender. She then tried to concentrate even harder, she began to focus even more, she tried to get flame to rise from her hand…and something did indeed arose from her digits. But however it was not fire.

It was smoke.

Black smoke began to rise and the sound of sizzling and crackling came from the tiny rings of flame that flickered around the individual bases of her fingers. Yang's eyes then faded back to purple, she ceased focus and gave a sigh. She didn't have it. She still couldn't reignite the extinguished fire that lied dormant in her soul. However Yang did realize something that she didn't realize before. She wasn't as broken as she thought she was. Where there is smoke, there is fire, and like a frontiersman in the wilderness who starts a fire by using sticks and flint, she was going to have to work to reignite the fire within her. She looked to Zwei who lied on the bed like a grey loaf of bread and whistled to him. The dog got up and made a noise which then Yang picked up the corgi holding him with her new arm and got out of bed and made to the door.

She was going to rekindle the flames.

* * *

Weiss had been looking out the balcony of her room. Her gleaming blue and white mansion had stood among the mountain city of Atlas, the gentle cool breeze brushing her face and her white bouncy bangs gently swept her brow. Once again her father, Jacques, had to meet with other CEOs of the conglomerate. She knew about it, and she knew her sister Winter despised it. She would hear Winter mutter on about how their father had become nothing more than a "minion" of the head of the group. Even though the head corporation that lead it had contributed greatly to Atlas military, Winter always had a hatred for its CEO, who was a close friend of their father. Winter was suspicious of The CEO's intentions and even accused the man of "manipulating" the their father into despising the Faunus race. That was another issue, Weiss's father had bore a massive grudge against the Faunus race, ever since when her mother Anastasia was poisoned by what appeared Faunus radicals and how the Atlasian justice system had seemed to be incompetent on finding the culprits and the case went cold. He had always went on how the Faunus were a conspiring race, how they betrayed her mother's trust and kindness and swore they would pay in merciless labor for what they have done.

But was he as pure evil as the public kept insisting he was?

She couldn't believe it, in earlier childhood Weiss remembered when her father was as kind and wise as her grandparents which she and her father shared great admiration for, even though they died years before she was born. He was practically the ideal business man. He was clever, innovative, witty, charismatic, and noble, almost like a knight in shining armor to her mother. Her mother was intelligent, very firm when she had to, and most of all very kind and merciful as she was beautiful. She even represented the Schnee Dust Company when they were donating to Atlasian Faunus Rights organizations, even performing at their galas with her beautiful singing voice, she was like a fair maiden that one would read about in fairy tales. But that all seemed to change after they lost her mother. Emotions except for freezing anger and vengeance had been drained from her father, his once deep blue and passionate eyes became dull grey and steely. It seemed he couldn't think of anything else but how the Faunus supposedly betrayed him and his wife and how The White Fang were nothing more then proof that the Faunus were a deceptive and monstrous race and how the rest of the world is foolish to listen to those degenerate Mistrialians, the two-faced Valeish, or brainless race-traitors in Vaccou.

"I really wish I wasn't here right now" Weiss sighed, remembering her teammates.

Ruby Rose, her leader who at some points acted like a complete oaf but other times had shown to be a more the competent leader. Yang Xiao Long, a powerful brawler who while at times made insufferable puns and appeared to be seemingly dimwitted had moments of complete brilliance. Lastly Blake, who at times seemed to be a coward when admitting her feelings but at other times had shown to be the most intelligent and civilized with a troubled past that proved to her father's perception of the Faunus was untrue. But now what could she do? Pyrrha Nikos the invincible girl was dead, Vale has been practically destroyed, Blake had ran off, Yang is in critical condition, and Ruby is out there somewhere getting herself into all kinds of trouble. Once again Weiss was powerless and she hated it. She then herd the door open and close and she turned around and was pleasantly surprised.

A portly man with balding brown hair, a stubby mustache, and bright eyes dressed in a butlers outfit stood before here with a comforting smile. It was the family butler Klien. Klien had been serving Weiss's family since her father was about her age and had been the voice of reason and comfort for Weiss, Winter, and back in his youth, Jacques when his own father passed away from Jeweled Lung Disease.

"I'd thought you would want to talk to someone." The old servant spoke in his kind voice

"Is father still talking to his conglomerate members?" Weiss asked

The servant sighed and shook his head "Indeed, I still can't understand why he would want anything to do with those leeches. They suck the lifeblood of this company dry…"

At the same time in Jacque's study, he had a screen open speaking to a group of men on screen. He had sat in his desk, collected and calm. His cool almost emotionless demeanor seemed prevalent during the virtual meeting.

"Did you hear? Those talking animals are still demanding rights in Atlas and starting to protest. They still refuse to see the natural order of things…" One CEO spoke, a balding man dressed in dark green whose face had crinkled in disgust mentioning the Faunus.

"They just can't accept the fact that their natural animal traits are natural indicators of their…somewhat lower evolutionary state than humans…" Another CEO, a middled aged woman dressed in black and white, her hair also sharing the same hair color

"We don't need to have this conversation, we've had this talk a million times" Jacque's replied "I just am having more of a difficult time with my business now that Vale is in shambles"

"Aren't we all? Then again what do you expect from a kingdom who thinks it can sustain itself on lies, especially the lie about 'equality.' Those fools in the West had practically brought it upon themselves. Speaking of which, how is your daughter?" Another CEO, a rather fat man dressed in a red coat and white stuffed shirt asked.

Jacques sighed "Fortunately in one piece, however she has all of those foolish ideas of the Faunus thanks to that crackpot schoolmaster Ozpin." He shook his head "It was a mistake to let her go there."

The fat man and the others chortled, all rather amused hearing the name of the now missing "Ozpin" who was either dead or hopelessly kidnapped by the mysterious terrorists who assaulted the kingdom.

"And look at what happened to that coffee-chugger! Don't worry Jacques, once your daughter gets over all that drama she'll see things our way! I mean she is aware of what happened to your wife right?" The fat man asked

Jacques nostrils for a split second flared up, he hated when others brought up his late wife, but he would not lose his composure and sighed "That's the problem, she's determined to honor her mother's wishes and my father's despite what it cost them. Denial of some sort I suppose. Her intensions are in the right place at least." Jacques replied "She just refuses to see the truth."

"Why don't you speak to the head of our group? He was a former teacher at Atlas Academy and has greatly contributed to the kingdom and your company with that project of yours. I'm sure he could provide some…personal help…" The black-and-white-dressed woman suggested.

The white-haired CEO's eyebrows raised…that was a possible solution…and Weiss's huntress training had yet to be finished…and the head DID had a degree in huntsman training. He kept that thought stored in the back of his head as he was about to resolve this meeting and after the group had the meeting adjourned he shut down the screens. The tall slender man then proceeded to turn to the portraits framed in the back of his room. Various paintings of himself when he was young in his teens. Dressed in what appeared to be mining armor over a rather dapper suit but still tailored for huntsman work, along side a tall burly man dressed in brown heavy clothing made for mining, a white beard, and a red scarf, and next to them a smaller woman with brown hair dressed in white, and in some photos of himself in different ages with him a woman with hair black as soot, skin white as snow, lips as red as roses, and eyes akin to Weiss and Winter's. Finally in the center of this wall was himself with hair combed in a fluffier style opposed to combed back, his mustached more shaved down to a style, the woman, and a younger winter whom in her lap was a younger Weiss.

A wave of nostalgia briefly overcame the old man and with it, his normally dull grey eyes lightened a bit to a grayish-blue. It was if for that split second his mind had escaped to a better time. A time more romantic and epic than the cold, reality-trapped, lifestyle he seemed to be in. He began remembering his days like how he decapitated a Jabberwocky Grimm with his sword Everest, how he and his team had won the Vytal Festival tournament and was promoted to be one of the top four teams of Atlas Academy, and he remembered that woman. That woman and her beautiful singing voice, her graceful fighting which seemed like she was dancing and the mere sight of her beauty had killed the Grimm due to them being unable to comprehend such things. He heard the hearty chuckle of his own father who patted him on the back. How he managed to astound the students of the academy with his semblance which he learned how to use to help hunt Grimm despite being born with an underdeveloped body. Finally probably the warmest memory of it all was the gifts that woman gave to him, his daughters. They had his hair and mother's eyes, and both have shown to have great potential…but his mind ceased remembering them, for then came unpleasant memories, memories and thoughts that if he faced them, would come guilt, shame, rage, and other unpleasant emotions…

* * *

Blake had made her way to the Mistrial. Her wound now healed, she now found herself alone, Yang lost her right arm and Vale is now in shambles because of what she wrought, and lastly that threat Adam had made to her

" _I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love"_

She knew she couldn't let anyone get close, it was a mistake coming to Beacon, it was a mistake to form a team. It was all going to be eventually taken away from her. In the end, tragedy would always get the last word. Then again, black cats always are known for bad luck, maybe she just could just at least have a good attitude about it and continue on with facing this problem alone.

The town she was in was not too far from Haven…not to far where her…mother was… No, she couldn't go to her, she probably get killed too, and after the hurtful things she said to her that year ago, she couldn't go back. Blake thought of her team but also thought of Sun…that adorably idiotic man who helped her see some good in the world, but in the end she knew she couldn't get close to him either. Adam had made sure that if she ever found someone else besides him, he would take them away from her. She would still have to pay the price for leaving him. She made her way through the dark slums of Mistrial and she remembered why she hated this place so much. This part of Mistiral was crawling with drug addicts, mobsters, perverts, almost every kind of criminal under the sun.

She managed to find a damp cloak for herself and pulled her hood over her head, though the hood was somewhat uncomfortable as droplets of water slipped into her cat ears, but she put up with it. Many people passed by, and many of them were rather grouchy and rude. "Move lady." Said one voice "move over" said another, everyone around this city was usually just bitter, and the council of this kingdom were full of cowardly and snarky individuals who when not busy spending money on gluttonous and carnal desires, were making dirty deals with the White Fang to assassinate political opponents and civilian dissidents. How ironic as the White Fang had claimed to be anti-establishment, but then again the whole organization is being run by hypocrites, notably her former sensei Sienna Kahn. She passed through until she came down to a near by dive where she asked for a table and sat at the counter.

"No matter what I do…he takes everything from me…" Blake sighs

"Who takes everything from you?" Another female voice asked next to her

Blake is somewhat startled the top of her hood moves due to the wiggling of her cat ears which then she sees another woman in a coat. Her eyes were deep yellow and her hair was cerise pink styled into a mix between a bun and a ponytail, she had long fingerless gloves that were a lighter pink and studded at the ends with small diamonds, she wore a choker that had a small diamond chain reaching down to a tight tank top of sort reaching down with some of her stomach exposed which then followed a leopard pattered skin-tight shorts of some kind followed with knee-high boots, she almost looked like a performing acrobat from a circus. Blake blinked before coming clean.

"An…abusive ex-boyfriend of mine…" Blake replied "He…threatened to ruin anything I have so I have no choice but to take him back, not that I would but I'm tired of having to pay the price for everything."

The pink woman's eyes shifted to understanding "Wow. He sounds like a real prick." She replied "Oh I'm being rude, Cerise…Cerise Flynt" she offered her hand.

Blake was still hesitant, but it's a little dive, Adam probably wouldn't look here. She took her hand and shook it. "Blake…Blake Belladonna…" She spoke softly

Cerise stopped shaking for a brief moment. It's as if she knew the name of the cat Faunus, which Blake seemed to notice. Cerise then tried to change the subject and hopefully, Blake might forget about it.

"So what is someone like you doing here?" Cerise spoke up which then the black-haired ninja averted her eyes. She couldn't tell her the whole truth, but she obviously wasn't going to buy 'just stuff' so she decided to tell her the truth vaguely

"I've decided to finish business with my ex, I want to make the message clear that I'm not his property, and he has no right to be interfering in whatever I do with my life. He's hurt me long enough." Blake replied before asking in turn "What about you?"

The lady in pink seemed to be hesitant herself, but she had been alone for several months and decided to give her own vague explanation

"I've decided to do some clean up in Mistrial…"

* * *

Sorry, it's been so long, but yeah I have introduced everything on the hero side. Yes in this universe Ozpin is not an ancient spirit but part of a long line of wizards and I have also introduced other figures of Remnant as well as reimagining Oscar as Ozpin's nephew. What I hope with this story is to give those unhappy with RWBY's direction an alternative source and hopefully fulfill those desires.

Jacques in this universe is a Schnee by blood but unlike the Canon!Verse he's not a cartoonishly racist and sexist obstacle with legs. In fact, most of his story runs deeper and is inspired a bit of the tale of Anakin Skywalker, but I won't spoil too much

I've also introduced some OC's of mine, a few are Jacque's business partners(or so they claim to be) who I will delve into later on, and Oscar's mother and Ozpin's twin sister, whose inspiration is a bit of Lelia Organa Solo(the EU not the dreaded Disney Trilogy) in her personality

Also, I have introduced Cerise Flynt, a character not of my creation but someone on Tumblr who made an RP account by the name "ceresiae" of beware if you use the link for spoilers of who Cerise is as it might give you foresight of what happens in the story

Any constructive criticism is appreciated!


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